Phonograph-record tray.



J. N. BLAGKMA'N. PHONOGRAPH RECORD TRAY. APPLIOATIOKI'ILBD 001'. a, 1906.

Patented Dec. 28,1909.

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' Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Application filed October 3, 1906. Serial No. 337,318.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrri NEwooMB BLACKMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonograph Record Trays, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to secure a paste-board or card-board tray which can be collapsed and shipped flat, and afterward brought into a form to receive the records; to secure in the complete tray when thus formed or set up, great rigidity and firmness; to obviate any danger of the tray becoming unlocked or falling open, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description. Referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which like characters of reference indi cate corresponding ,parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a plan'fviewof one end-portion of my improved tray with its flaps 'open, and Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing said flaps partly closed or locked together; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tray complete, and Fig. t is a face view of one of the end or looking flaps.

It willbe understood that the trays forming the subject matter of my invention are employed to contain cylinder records stood on end, being used by the dealer for convenience in the display and arrangement of his stock. 'The top of the tray must, therefore be open, and furthermore its longer sides must not present any outward obstruction such as would prevent the traysstancling closely side by side and sliding freely with respect to one another as they are taken down from the shelf. It is desirable to form these trays of a single piece ofcardboard so cut and creased that it can be shipped flat and afterward formed into a tray, and it is obvious that in doing this the means for fastening or looking the completed tray together must be located entirely upon the ends ofthe open tray; furthermore this fastening must be firm and se cure enough to provide ends which shall be reasonably rigid, without any support at their upper edges, to resist the strain and wear of handling and usage. Y I

'In the drawings, 2 indicates. the bottom of my improved tray, and 3, 3 the opposite longer sides of the. same. adaptedto be bent upward and stand at rightangles to saidbottom. These sides and the bottom of the tray present perfectly smooth exteriors to engage the shelf and adjacent trays, so as to enable the tray to be slid into and out of its position readily.

The-bottom 2 of the tray has an end exten sion 4L, which is recessed or cut away at one lateral edge, as at 5, the bottom of the recess or the edge of said recessed portion of the extension next the bottom 2 of the tray being preferably beveled or slanted outwardly toward said bottom of the tray, as at 6.

The side wall 3 of the tray adjacent to the said recessed edge of the bottom extension 4 has an inner flap 7 which is of the full height of the side 3 and long enough to extend across the end of the tray. This flap is slit for a portion of its length, substantially parallel to its upper and lower edges, from the line-of its joining with the side wall 3,

straight outward toward its end, as at 8, and

beyond said straight portion 8 the slit is curved downward as at 9 to meet the are a of acircle drawn around the outer lower co ner of the flap as a center. As shown in the drawing, the point of intersection of said curvedportion 9 of the slit with the arc is preferably substantially the center of the flap 7 the straight portion 8 of the slit being alittle more than half way up the height ofthe flap and somewhat less in length than half the length of the flap. However, it will be apparent hereafter that the exact location of said point of intersection and the precise position and length of the straight portion 8 of the slit may all vary somewhat with respect to the flap 7, so long as the curved portion 9 of the slit is considerably shorter than its straight portion 8 and the point of intersection of said curved portion with an arc struck around the lower outer corner of the flap as a center does not approach too near the edges of the flap for any holding efliciency. The other side wall 3 of the tray, or side wall adjacent to the entire edge 10 of the bottom extension 4:, is provided with an outer flap 11, which is of a height substantially equal to that of the side wall 3 of the tray, and of a length suflicient to reach across the end of the tray. .This flap hasin its lower edge an upwardly extending recess whose which the are a hereinbefore described is struck. Said outer flap 11 is also provided with a verticalslit 15 extending from said apex to a point outside the said are 6, and which point is adapted to register with the extremity of the curved slit 9 of the flap 11 when the two flaps 7 and 11 are superimposed as hereinafter described. The lower portions of the opposite edges of the said recess 12 may be varied somewhat so long as they provide clearance for the swing of the flap upon its lower inner corner as a center, as hereinafter described, but it is desirable that the said edges toward the top of the recess be convexly curved toward each other, as shown, particularly the one marked 14 and which is toward the free end of the said outer flap 11.

In setting up my improved tray, the side wall 3 having the inner fiap 7 is first bent into upright position, and said inner flap 7 bent inward to stand across the end of the tray; the bottom extension 4 is then bent upward to lie flat against said flap 7 already placed, the recess 5 of said bottom extension exposing the slit 8, 9 of said fiap 7; and finally, the outer flap 11 is bent upward into the plane of the end of the tray, and swung upon its lower inner corner as a center, the side wall 3 to which it is attached simultaneously assuming an upright position. In such swinging of the outer flap 11, that portion of its lower part which is beyond, or toward its free end, from the recess 12 is guided or inserted into the slit 8, 9 as a tongue. Downward pressure upon the flap 11 causes it to continue its swinging movement, and the apex of the recess 12 passes the extremity of the curved portion 9 of the slit in the other or inner flap 7 with considerable friction, because it is on the are 6 of smaller radius. As soon as the vertical slit 15 is reached, however, the flaps slide together with increasing case, since said slit leads from the small are I) to the larger one a, and when the end of said slit 15 engages the end of the slit 9, the flaps are squarely superimposed and rest naturally and easily in locked relation. lVhen thus locked together, the two flaps 7 and 11, with the bottom extension 4 between them, form a firm secure end for the tray, and thus there is no tendency for the flaps to slip apart or become inadvertently released, which would be a very serious detriment in the rapid and constant handling to which the tray must be subjected in ordinary business usage.

It will be remembered that these trays stand side by side on a shelf, each containing several records and each being slid into and out of place by taking hold of its end. The sides and bottom of the tray must therefore be smooth and devoid of obstruction on the outside, while the end must be strong and stifi enough to serve as a handle. Even though the strain of such usage comes diis strong and firm enough to withstand the strain. This is because of the wedging action with which the rounded edge 14 of the outer flap rides over the end of the slit 9 in the inner flap, until the vertical slit 15 easily and naturally receives said end of said slit 9, and as has been described such action is due to the different radii of the arcs b and (I, struck through the lower end of the vertical slit 15 and curved extremity of the slit 8, respectively, upon the same lower corner of the box as a center. By such construction the two flaps in looking together pass their point of greatest resistance to engagement before they reach their final position, and while they rest easily in locked position and lie perfectly fiat upon each other, they cannot come apart without such increasing engagement with each other as prevents separation unless they are distorted or crushed at their edges. It is also highly advantageous to shape the slit 8, 9 as described, for while a curved slit would open easily to admit the tongue or a straight slit would firmly grip the edges of the tongue, this slit by having portions of both shapes possesses both advantages. As the parts come into final interlocked position, the outer edge of the tongue is tightly gripped between the edges of the slit 8 at that end which is straight, and simultaneously the slitted flap 7 is at the opposite or downturned extremity 9 of the slit 8 gripped between the edges of the straight Vertical slit 15 in the other flap 11. I find this to be of great advantage not only in holding the parts in interlocked position but also in causing the two flaps and,

the extension of the bottom to lie quite flatupon each other so as to permit a label to be pasted over them. The vertical slit 15 thus cooperates with the slit having the curved end portion 9 to secure as tight a holding of the flaps flat-wise together as with a straight slit, and also hooks into the end of said slit in the peculiar manner before described, by reason of its two ends lying in the different arcs a and b, so as to oppose edgewise movement of the flaps each in its own plane with respect to each other.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

The hereindescribed tray comprising in combination a bottom and integral sides having an open top; the bottom having an extension adapted to be bent upward and provided with a recess at one lateral edge; one side of the tray having an end flap adapted to be bent inward and provided with a slit extending for the greater portion of its length straight and horizontally from the bend of the flap toward the extremity thereof and having a short end portion curved downward to an arc struck around the lower outer corner of this flap; and the opposite side of the tray having an end flap also adapted to be bent inward and provided with a flared recess extending upward from its lower edge with its apex lying in an arc concentric with the first saidare when the flaps are folded flatwise together and of shorter radius, the edge wall of said recess toward the outer end of the flap being convexly rounded for its portion next said apex and this flap also having a straight vertical slit extending from said apex of said recess upward into its body beyond the smaller arc and to the larger are at the said point where the slit 8, 9 terminates, when the flaps are superposed; the end portion or tongue of said last-mentioned flap beyond said recess adapted to enter the curved end portion of the said slit in the first-mentioned flap and pass thereinto until its outer edge is gripped between the edges of the straight portion of the slit and the said first-mentioned flap is simultaneously gripped between the edges of the said straight vertical slit of the said lastmentioned flap, all as and for the purposes set forth.

JOSEPH NEWCOMB BLACKMAN.

In the presence of- GEORGE G. BLAoKMAN, R. B. CALDWELL. 

